Front electronics panel replacement

[White Lightening]

  Well, I have a 2000 Tr21 and when I bought it from the previous owner it didn't have the front fish finder in the panel.  It had this big hole in the panel and alot of old glue left on it from the old tape.  Not to mention the thing was lod and cracked and just looked nasty.  I hated standing there looking at it when i fished.  Anybody have this issue to?

 Well, I decided to do something about it.  I called Triton and it ws $130 to replace it.  I was like whoa and no way am I spending that on it right now.  Well, I went to Home Depot and picked up a piece of plexiglass and went to work.  I traced the old one and started my cutting.  (Helpful tip:  go slow and use a close tooth blade on the recipricating saw and it won't melt back together).  I then cleaned up the cuts with  file and rounded the edges and re-mounted the plug, light, switch and motor trim switch.  I did all this for a whopping $18 vise $130.  Now, I don't have the big empty hole there and it looks pretty neat I think.  Here are some before and after pics of it.

[fishinfranklin]

Looks Great !!!You could get some woodgrain shelfing paper and cover it,,just use 3M spray adheisive to glue it to the plexi- glass

[trjackson2]

or if you spray paint the underside of hte plexi glass the visible side will look shiny and nice what ever color you painted it.

[fishinfranklin]

Yea thats a good option too, or you could even take a lil 2in. sanding disc and sand it on the back side and get  a frosted look and maybe add a couple of led lights behihd it. It really looks great even if you dont do anything esle to it, for a 112 buck savings.

[OutdoorFrontiers]

The nice thing about making your own control panel is that if you want to change the locator out, you can make the opening whatever size you want. 

I have the same control panel in my boat and the Lowrance locator on the bow puked.  I got VERY lucky winning a Humminbird 383c from Bass & Walleye Boat magazine and was able to make some mounting brackets that enabled the new locator to fit the old opening. 

The locator that I had been considering wasn't even close to the size of the existing one, so I wouldn't have had the nice clean installation I do now.

I'm thinking now about making my own control panel like you did, because the new locator has a surface water temp reading and I don't need the gauge that came from the factory.  And, the temp reading is off by almost three degrees warmer, so it isn't accurate anyway.

Good job on the panel, it's a nice idea that can be done on any boat.

Steve

[White Lightening]

 Thanks for the replys guys.  I never really thought about painting the back side or sanding it for a frosted look till you guys said something.  I was going to leave it clear kinda liked the see throught look.  But, now i am re thinking it. 

  I like the idea of having an option of putting anything I want in the panel now.  If I want a bigger spot I know how to make one and it took me about 3 hours to get it right on the first try.  I think I measured three times before any cuts were made.  I am thinking of cutting it to mount my 520C in it but unsure right now.  I may just leave it.  Home Depot has the perfect size pieces for just $18.  So, if anyboduy is looking to do the same good luck.